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News for Baby Boomers
Retiring Baby Boomers Much More Traditional Than
Many Have Assumed
National survey looks at boomers turning 62 – by 65
will be retired, taking Social Security
 Feb. 12, 2008 - Most baby boomers that will turn 62
this year report that they are retired or will be fully retired by age
65, that they’ll collect Social Security by age 65, that they’ve been
married only once and that they have 2.4 children on average. Of those
who have children, 78% have grandchildren (66% of total). Conservatives
outnumber liberals by two to one.
“Contrary to what most of us have believed about
the baby boomers who came of age in the turbulent 1960s, the group is
very much like the ‘Silent Generation’ that preceded them,” said Sandra Timmermann, Ed.D., director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute,
which conducted “Boomers Ready to Launch,” a profile of the first baby
boomers as they turn 62.”
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“This is the first time that the oldest baby
boomers, including their lifestyles, perceptions and plans have been
examined in such detail,” said Timmermann.
“Despite the social and political turbulence of
their youth, these leading edge boomers have established very
traditional lifestyle characteristics. They were married once, had two
children and feel they've done a decent job of caring for their family,
their community and themselves. They really are more like Ward and June
Cleaver than we may have thought and they might be classified as
‘conventional.’ Just 2% say they attended the Woodstock Festival of
1969.”
“They're comfortable being identified as a baby
boomer, and contrary to claims that they're not ready to retire, only
18% dislike the term ‘retirement’ to describe their next transition.
They have not, however, lost their connection to the youth culture they
ignited.
On average, as far as they're concerned, they're
not really going to be ‘old’ for another 17 years. All in all, this is a
fairly affluent group who remain in good health with a lot more left to
give.”
The survey reports that the majority (77%) of
boomers born in 1946 say they are in good to excellent health; their net
worth, (excluding home value) is an average of $257,800 and their
average annual income is approximately $71,400.
They are empty nesters; of those who have children
very few have children living with them (fewer than one in five).
Of those who have grandchildren, 8% have
grandchildren living with them.
On average, the age at which they believe they’ll
be ‘old’ is 78, with their health status being a deciding factor.
Those in excellent health say they’ll be old at 83,
while those in poor health put that number at 74.
The most popular words they use to describe the
best things about being 62 are ‘retirement,’ and ‘not having to work,’
and the words used to describe the worst things are ‘old age’ and
‘health problems.’
Forty-five percent like the term ‘baby boomer’
outright and another 38% are somewhat in favor of it; 17% don’t like it.
As for the term ‘retirement,’ 52% like it, 31% like
it somewhat and 18% don’t like it.
Politically, 44% of these baby boomers report that
they were and remain conservative; 20% say they were more liberal when
they were young, and have become more conservative since their 20’s.
Twenty-two percent say they have remained liberal, while 15% say they
were more conservative and have become more liberal since their younger
days.
As a group, these boomers feel they have done a
good to excellent job contributing to their communities and 83% say they
were good to excellent at providing for their spouses’ and children’s
needs.
Fifty-four percent acknowledge doing only a poor to
fair job of ensuring that they have adequate coverage for their own
long-term care needs.
As for education, 45% have an Associate’s or
Bachelor’s degree. Only 5% have both parents still living; 27% have one
parent. The fact that the remaining sixty-eight percent have neither of
their parents living indicates that caregiving for an older relative is
no longer a responsibility.
Eighty-seven percent say neither they nor their
spouse are caregivers to elderly parents or relatives right now.
Of the 14% who are caregivers, 16% of them are
providing care for more than 20 hours a week – the average number of
hours is 9.5.
Thirty-eight percent are expecting an inheritance
of an average of $210,000.
Thirty-five percent have already received an
inheritance of an average of $113,000.
When asked to use one word to explain the best
aspect of being 62, respondents answered: retirement or being close to
retirement, being alive, freedom, health, Social Security, wisdom and
independence. As one person put it, "I'm glad to be on the planet,
rather than in it."
As for the worst aspects, respondents answered:
illness (overwhelmingly), disability, wrinkles, aches and pains,
discrimination, under-appreciation, memory loss, mortality and generally
getting older.
Members of the group who say they will take Social
Security at age 62 reasoned that they feel they're entitled and would
rather have the money than let the government have it. Respondents
reported that they believe it’s in their financial interest to take
Social Security sooner.
Other reasons reported were: they need the money
right now and they fear there will be nothing left in the system if they
wait.
Additional data that Boomers Ready to Launch
reports about boomers born in 1946:
• Thirty-one percent plan
to apply for Social Security when they turn 62 and 32% say they will
wait until age 66 or beyond when they can receive full benefits.
• Sixty-eight percent say
they have employee or retiree health insurance.
• Forty-seven percent are
covered by a defined benefit plan, 50% have a 401K, 50% have an IRA.
• Thirty-eight percent
have stocks and 38% have mutual funds.
• Twenty-two percent have
long-term care insurance.
• Eighty-five percent own
their own home.
• The average value of
their homes is $297,900.
• Sixteen percent would
consider a reverse mortgage primarily to take care of their own
long-term care needs and costs; 74% aware that they are eligible at age
62 to apply for a federally backed reverse mortgage.
• Twenty-five percent say
they plan to move to another area for retirement.
A look at the group shows that those born in 1946
were 17 years old in 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was
assassinated and turned 18 the next year, the start of the conflict in
Vietnam. Their 21st birthdays were in 1967, the year of the ‘summer of
love,’ and just before the political turmoil of 1968.
Well-known Americans born in 1946 are: President
George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, President Bill Clinton, Cher,
Diane Keaton, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Liza Minnelli, Reggie
Jackson, Sally Field, Sylvester Stallone, Donald Trump, Suzanne Somers,
Susan Sarandon, Jimmy Buffett, presidential candidate Fred Thompson and
the late Gilda Radner.
Editor’s Notes:
The MetLife Mature Market Institute survey, Boomers
Ready to Launch, which was first released at the end of December of
2007, takes a first look at the leading edge of the baby boomer
generation – the first 2.9 million representatives of the 77
million-boomer cohort as they arrive at their first opportunity to
officially ‘retire.’
Age 62 is considered a ‘legislative birthday’
because it is the first milestone at which participants in the Social
Security system can apply for regular retirement benefits.
Boomers Ready to Launch was conducted by GFK Custom
Research North America on behalf of the MetLife Mature Market Institute
during November 2007. The study consisted of a 15-minute telephone
survey of 1,000 participants, from multiple survey panels, who were age
61 in 2007. The survey results were weighted to be representative of the
population of 61 year olds in the United States.
Staffed by gerontologists, The MetLife Mature
Market Institute, part of the company’s Retirement Strategies Group, has
been providing research, knowledge management, education, and policy
support for over ten years to Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, its
corporate customers, and business partners. MetLife is a subsidiary of
MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), a leading provider of insurance and financial
services to individual and institutional customers. For a summary of the
Boomers Ready to Launch, please write to the MetLife Mature Market
Institute, 57 Greens Farms Road, Westport, CT 06880, call (203) 221-6580
or e-mail: MatureMarketInstitute@metlife.com.
The profile can also be accessed online at http://www.maturemarketinstitute.com/
under ‘What’s New.’
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